 We launched our 2018 meetings with a presentation by medical fittness expert Kylie Vatthauer entitled “Butt, This is Serious: Refocusing Your Wellness Goals.” Laurie Lucking shares her notes below.
 Our November meeting is usually a writing and brain storming time in honor of NaNo
WriMo (National Novel Writing Month.) It is also when we have our elections. Many thanks to (left to right) Gail Helgeson (treasurer), Laurie Lucking (secretary), Mollie Rushmeyer (VP) and Gabrielle Meyer (president) who have agreed to serve on the board for 2018. Hmmm. Who's that lurking behind the Gabe mask? Maybe someone who writes intriguing YA sci fi although I didn't remember that body-switching came into the story.  At our October meeting, Brenda Anderson and Stacy Monson shared encouragement for “riding the rutty writing road.” Both have plenty of experience on which to draw. Here’s what they say about their own journeys:
 We aren't all work at Minnesota NICE. Our August meeting is usually an outing of some sort. This year we took the Jonathan Padelford river boat from Harriet Island up the Mississippi almost to Fort Snelling. If you were along and posted pictures on another site, please post a link in the comments. And if you weren't along, we hope you'll join us next summer. In the meantime, join us for regular meetings (see schedule) and keep writing!
 Sunday, January 20, we tried a first at Minnesota NICE—a Skype conference speaker. It worked great. Carol Topp could see us, and we could see her as well as her computer screen.
She talked about (get ready for it) BOOKKEEPING (groan). She knows how much we creative-types love that subject, but she reminded us that we need to do it 1) for taxes, and 2) so we know whether or not our business actually made a profit. Like Donald Trump’s Atlantic City casino, she said, you can make lots of money and still not have enough profit for your business to be viable. She talked about what is and is not deductible on your taxes and gave us tips on apps and techniques for not letting the whole process overwhelm us. If you missed this informative meeting (or just couldn’t take it all in at one sitting!), check out Carol’s book Business Tips and Taxes for Writers or listen to her podcast Dollars and Sense. And join us for next month’s meeting when brainstorming guru Michelle Lim will take us through some craft basics.  Rachel Britz spoke at our September meeting. She graciously agreed to summarize her thoughts on blogging.
My blogging journey began 8 years ago. And like many good things it fell right into my lap. It was during a season that I was being awakened to a God-sized dream of writing and speaking. I had a pastor who came alongside me and helped me hone in and develop this dream. He gave me several opportunities to share an encouraging message at church and with our women’s program.  Our June meeting was an outing to the Wabasha Street Caves in Saint Paul where gansters once reigned supreme. Erica Vetch wrote a great blog about it, so click over to Coffee Cups and Camisoles to read all about it.  Julie Klassen put together a wonderful summary of Jennifer Parker's time with us about cover design at our April meeting. Please check it out on her blog. Jennifer is a cover designer with Bethany, hired by our own Julie when she worked there. She took us through the process from concept through photoshoot to final approval. Thank you, Jennifer. 
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